In June last year, after a wait of 30 years and having run Manchester City close the year before, Jurgen Klopp's team was crowned Champions of England. Huge praise was thrown in his direction, winning manager of the year and players Trent Alexander-Arnold, Jordan Henderson and Sadio Mane winning Young Player of the Year, Footballer of the Year and Fans Player of the Year respectively.
Fast Forward 9 months and Liverpool sit 8th in the Premier League having lost 6 of their last 7 matches, conceding 12 and scoring just 4 goals. These are losses which include defeats to Brighton and Fulham, 2 teams battling relegation, leaving them 7 points off a Champions League spot and Klopp cutting a bewildered figure seemingly without answers. He's a man who can't possibly be enjoying his football.
It seems unthinkable to believe that Liverpool would sack Klopp given his achievements to date but this awful run can only go on for so long and with bookmakers currently having him at 7/1 to be the next sacking, fourth out of all Premier League managers, there's obviously a feeling that he's running out of time. It wouldn't be the first time that a team has won the league and sacked their manager the next season...
In 2015/2016, Leicester City beat all the odds to win the Premier League for the 1st time in their history - a club that the previous season had been battling relegation. Claudio Ranieri deservedly won manager of the season and will go down in Leicester folklore, but the following season came discontent. Players revolted and stopped giving their all for the manager and by February with Leicester languishing dangerously close to relegation, Ranieri was sacked.
Can parallels be drawn with this Liverpool team? Unlike the Leicester comparison, we're not hearing murmurings of discontent coming out of the club (other than with their league position and results), but we are seeing signs of it on the pitch. We can make a lot out of Sadio Mane not going down in the box and Salah not passing, but are we looking for something that isn't there in order to explain their situation?
We must remember that this is a Liverpool team that failed to properly strengthen over the summer with significant injuries at centre back, they have now tried 19 (I think) different combinations in such a crucial position. Is this the fault of Klopp? Has fatigue caught up with an injury strickened squad, lacking in depth, that has played 43 times in all competitions this season - in an unprecedented season, were Liverpool unprepared for the challenges ahead?
So many questions can be asked of Liverpool's current situation, why they are where they are and what happens next remains to be seen. I would be surprised if Liverpool thought a change of manager was the right move and at the same time, I wouldn't be. One thing I do know for sure, if things fall apart against RB Leipzig tomorrow night, what is currently a murmur could quickly become more than that with Rangers' title winning manager waiting in the wings (Gerrard is currently 6/4 to be next Liverpool manager). And with today's breaking news, have they already got their replacement lined up in a straight swap deal? Jurgen Klopp has previously stated that he would like to manage Germany "in the future" so is this "future" nearly upon us?
The Speculation Will Continue
How many rumours can I start with pure speculation? That's part of the fun of this beautiful game and will leave us talking about it for hours on end.